LAHORE: Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) Lahore has taken action against the retailers disconnected from the Point of Sale (POS) system despite integration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Focal person for POS at LTO Lahore Shahzad Ali Khan told this scribe that those retailers were not printing FBR invoice number and QR code on the invoices generated to the customers. The FBR has recently issued a standardized format of the Sales Tax invoice detailing the "minimum requirements" of the Sales Tax Invoice. It is informed that the "Invoice No" at the top of the standardized invoice is the "Unique sequential invoice number" as per law and will portray the Tier-1 retailer's own sequential invoice number. FBR has authorized the imposition of fine up to Rs500,000 against the violators of the law.

Shahzad said a good number of large scale retailers were not in compliance with the FBR requirement. However, an imposition of fines has led to a situation where retailers are in full compliance with the FBR requirements.

He said the LTO Lahore has ensured full integration of large scale retailers both in bakery and garments sectors. There is a 100 percent integration of major retailers in both the sectors, he stressed.

According to him, the LTO Lahore was actively pursuing the field staff to ensure 100 percent compliance with the FBR requirements on POS integration. However, he admitted that retailers in the fields like chemicals, sales, service and spare parts outlets of major car manufacturers, jewelers and electronic appliances are yet hesitant in the integration with POS.

He said notices have been issued to those not complying with the system and further expressed the hope that they would be integrating with the system soon. At present, most of them have challenged the notices before the court of law, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021